Henry Cooper

Synopsis

Henry Cooper is best remembered for the night he nearly changed boxing history - 19 July 1963. Fighting an up-and-coming boxer by the name of Cassius Clay, later to become Muhammad Ali, his famous left hook (known as 'Henry's Hammer') sent Clay crashing onto the canvas. Arguably Britain's greatest ever heavyweight fighter, Cooper won 40 of his 55 professional bouts, beating most of the true boxing greats along the way. His story is littered with famous names - Rocky Marciano, Floyd Patterson, Sonny Liston, Joe Louis, Sugar Ray Robinson, and, of course, Ali. But Cooper's retirement from the sport did not spell the end of his time in the public eye, as he embarked on a successful media career. Disaster struck in the 1990s, however, when his innocent involvement in a scandal surrounding insurance giants Lloyd's of London led to him having to sell his unique collection of three Lonsdale belts to pay his bills.He was knighted in the millennium New Year's honours list for his services to boxing, and his death in May 2011 sparked a huge outpouring of tributes from the sporting community.